The Truth is in the Point
by Ray Venn Hakubi
Summary: Ten years into the aftermath of the series, in 1614, one of the characters reminisces on his past. Answer to The Narrator's Challenge... uh, that is, if it hasn't already expired.
1. Introspection

In response to The Narrator's challenge.

Disclaimer: I do not own SDK. I don't think I want to, either. Then I'd have to actually work towards it, or something. Just a note, though I've seen all the way through the Anime, I have no idea what really goes on in the Manga past English-translation volume 7.

**The Truth is in the Point**

As I sit here, reading through the reports, I realise that I miss it all. How it was. The life I felt at that time… I am the man who rules the world, and yet it is hollow.

Tokugawa Hidetada. What a grand name. It doesn't suit me, though.

_When we are tied down, we lose_

(Lose the spark)

_Lose our way to success_

(success in battle)

_to rule an empty_

(empty-meaning, who needs freedom?)

_Throne that we did not earn_

(earn the right to live)

Benitora. Now that's a name that suited me. I should have kept it. But no, I left it behind with my cross-headed spear, and the bandanna to hide my shaved head. When Ajira told me that I lacked his conviction, I hesitated, and that allowed our fight to be interrupted. That was eleven years ago. I thought at the time he was wrong.

Perhaps he was right. His life was devoted to his art… Though I have no respect for the charlatan Ajira, the man behind the mask has my accolade. Akira was a true warrior, focussed, and single-spirited. It's said that a Samurai's sword is his soul. Perhaps Akira, with his two souls, was stronger than I, who had no soul. I had thought at the time it was dilution.

_When our fathers die_

(Die for what they believed in)

_A part of us goes with them_

(Their power dies with their dreams)

_We are left alive_

(alive to prove ourselves)

_And they burn for their sins_

If only I had remembered what he told me, but I laughed at him. Makira had the right of it too… Grasp what you want, and it shall be yours. Wander aimlessly and lose it all.

Ieyasu, the old fool… Makira, the murderous traitor… Akira, the twin-souled swordsman. What had these men in common? Was it their drive? Certainly not skill or dreams. In my foolishness, even after associating with the greatest of their kind.. Kyo, what is the secret? I understand it now. For you, for Akira, the truth was in the curve of your blades. Makira, your scythe-spear was your soul as strongly as any of the other's swords.

On the other hand.. Live by the sword, die by the sword. In my gallant youth, I sought to deny this saying by wielding a spear. As though to spit in the eye of sages and wisdom. Well, live by the spear, die by the pen.

Yuya. So alive. I flirted with you, perhaps even planned to take you as a wife. Everyone thought that I was acting in jest, though Mahiro saw my true self more often than I'd have liked… Mahiro is another who lived by her way of life. She accepted the truth of events and still stuck to her revenge. Her arm never healed from the break inflicted by the psychotic wind-user, Chinmei. Kyo killed her, of course. With only one arm… well, she never had a chance in the first place, let alone after her injury.

All these people… they lived for what they believed in. I envy them, even the dead ones.

Now, I live alone and friendless, and rule the world.

_And wallow in memories_

(memories that linger)

_memories of the past_

(the past that fades)

_past that lived._

(the present that dies)

Half-closing my eyes, I smiles at the man who stands in front of me, and give the order. We march to the Toyotomi's last stronghold. And I take up my spear one last time.


	2. Familial Pondering

Just a quick A/N..

Due to popular demand, as soon as I get the spark again (not too infrequent, don't worry) I'll continue this story...however, for now, I'll just answer the reviews.

**Narrator **- I'll try ;)

**Foxmagic** - Heh, the show's ok. I much prefer the manga, though. Not just out of "original-art snobbishness", but I actually do prefer the characters and implementation.

And.. Benitora is kinda lighthearted, on the outside, but he always seemed to be kinda heavy inside.

**Nekozuki** - Well, it does strike me as odd that there aren't any other Benitora-focus fics on FFnet, as I'd have thought he was a popular character... I'll do my best not to dissapoint.

**Genjyo Sanz0** - well, if you don't think Kyo would kill Mahiro, you've not been paying much attention. Kyo may be a complete and utter psychopath, but he DOES keep his promises. He promised to kill Mahiro when she was skilled enough to be worth killing. She'd proved that she was, so he had nothing against sending her to join her sister.

Just 'cause it never happened in the show doesn't mean it couldn't happen in the intervening 9 years between the end of the show (1604) and the current fic (1614, time of the Winter Siege of Osaka, which is the battle Benitora goes to fight at the end)

Now... I managed to get this out before my Spark deserted me last time, so here's a teaser for a possible continuation. Previous Disclaimers Apply.

**The Truth is in the Point**

Osaka. The last stronghold of the Toyotomi. Fortress of my brother-in-law, Hideyori. My daughter, Sen… Am I destined to be your life's end? If so, I will make it fast. Your mother, dead now, told me that all my children's lives would end with me as they had begun… I realise that I do not wish this battle. A siege, instead. I will not end your life with a blade…

_Life and death_  
(death of hope)  
_Always end in the same way  
_(way of eternity)  
_leading inexorably to reincarnation  
_(reincarnation as we deserve)

Thinking of you… my daughter. I forbade the marriage, and yet secretly wished it well… Iemitsu is not as headstrong as you. Perhaps you would do better as Seii Taishogun than he, but it shall not be so. I will do as my father has done, I think. It is the only way to ensure his good sense. I can only hope I do not become so.. ineffectual in my final years, as he has done. Ogosho is a position far more suited to me.


End file.
